If You Could Change One Thing
by Mandalyn
Summary: Sometimes you have to send Someone to do Something you didn't have the strength to do.
1. Time traveler

The Dark haired slayer turned into the court yard heading toward the lobby door.

"We tract him we find him we-"

"Get your asses kicked." Angelus cut in. "I don't know wild guess?"

Faith went in for the take down but the vampire was able spin her off into Wesley, who was behind her. Effectively knocking the tranquilizer gun into a near by shrub. Once the slayer was out of the way, Angelus took up the former watcher by the throat in hostage form.

"Sucky spell huh?" The vampire quipped. "You think it'd at least go to the side walk."

"Let him go this is between you and me." Faith replied.

"It's never just between you and me Wes will al-"

The grip on Wesley's throat went slack and Angelus slid to the ground, prone with a small silver tube-shaped object sticking out of his back. Wesley bent down to pull it out.

When Wes was down Faith had a strait view to the gate at the end of the walkway. Black clad and authoritative, stood a short, round faced girl. Holding a silver colored gun pointed strait ahead. With a smirk she slipped it into a holster just inside the leather waist length jacket she wore.

Wesley stood back up turning the object in his hand. It looked to be a glass bullet that had broke and the silver prongs at the back injected what ever the glass contained.

"It'll put a human out for twelve hours." The stranger said as she approached the confused duo. "Him, about three." The girl walked right by them toward the hotel, close up now they could see her blonde hair was streaked in redish lines. Faith went to follow her but,

"Faith wait." Wes stopped her. "We have to get him down stairs." He indicated the unconscious vampire.

Inside Fred was seeing to Connor who was nursing a wounded head. Eyeing them as she entered, the girl made her way to the green empath on the floor. She pulled her black bag off her shoulders and took out a thin pen-like instrument. With the snap of the cap, a hypodermic needle appeared at the end of it.

The needle came close to Lourn's neck, when a hand yanked the girls wrist away.

"Who the hell are you and what the hell is that?" Gunn demanded. Fred and Connor were at his side in a moment.

"It's an eppi-pen." The girl replied. "Adrenal booster, should counter the tranquilizer."

"Gunn help us." Wesley called from the door.

He and Faith were dragging Angelus into the hotel. Once Gunn and Connor went to assist, Fred watched the strange girl inject Lourn. With in seconds he began to stir.

"I need a drink." Red eyes locked on pale gray ones. "I'm dead. You an angel?"

"No but I've met one." The girl said. "Not just your Angel an actual angel too."

With out even offering a hand to help the Pylean off the floor she went to the counter and turned on the monitor that sat there. Wesley and Gunn were locking the unconscious vampire back in his cage. A delicate hand hit the power button.

"So." Faith began. "What's your story?"

"She smells familiar." Connor said from the basement door.

"Oh that is just creepy." The young woman said. She walked over and retrieved her bag. "I just helped you cage Angelus, don't I get the benefit of a doubt? What day is it?"

With a familiar ease this interloper made her way over to what was at one time Cordelia's desk.

"Where's the girl." Wesley ask as he entered the room.

"Huh." Came from the girl in question. "I'm probably in class right now. This is when I was on academic probation, I actually get suspended next semester. Do you have a phone I'd like to call my self and bitch me out."

"Wow th-that didn't-" Fred tried rationalizing.

"Oh no Time difference!" The girl declared. "I'm probably on my way to rehearsal."

"Please miss who are you?" Wesley asked, admitted.

"That's the semester I did HAIR." She kept rambling on to herself. "I wonder if I can still do the alto part."

With a frustrated exchange of glances Angel Investigations seemed to silently agree that this was a situation not needed. But the young girl took a breath.

_"And Love will steer the STARS!" _She sang, and with a grin side glanced at Lourn.

"Oh my god." Lourn said and sat down.

"Who are you?" Wes asked a final time.

"I thought you would have figured it out, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce." She said. "I'm a time traveler."


	2. How I got here

"Come on I'm one of the good guys." The time traveler said as she allowed herself to be pulled to a chair. Gunn secured her hands with a short rope. "Ask Kreblorneswath." There was a mutual moment of silence. "Of the death walk clan."

The said demon was sipping on his bright red drink. He noticed all attention was focused on him.

"Don't look at me sweety." He said. "You explain yourself. If you want trust you have to earn it, and you should know that."

"Savvy." She nodded. "I'm from the future, the very non-distant future. Just a couple of years. I came back to help you."

"Why you?" Connor asked. "Who are you to us?"

"I can't tell you that, what I can tell you is that I'm in a long line of warriors."

"What warriors?" Faith ask in suspicion.

"Oh let me think here." She looked at the ceiling and stuck her tongue out in thought. "I was supposed to memorize these, but I never did. I know there was Nikki Wood, Buffy Summers, Kendra something I could never pronounce her last name and Faith Lehane." She pause a moment. "That's right I'm M the vampire slayer."

"M?"

"Yeah I'm not telling you my name I you find out who I am, could change the future. My future, so no. Wanna untie me now?"

"Wait, if you're a slayer," Fred dipped her head in confusion. "shouldn't you be able to just break those ropes?"

"I was being polite." With a jerk she pulled her hands in front of her holding the pieces of rope. "Thought you might want to use them again."

"No you're lying." Wesley said. "Time travel is impossible."

"Oh you're right. No such thing, totally impossible." M picked up her black bag and started toward the door, but turned back to face the Brit. "Oh by the way, what did you get Connor for his fourteenth birthday?" She called over her shoulder. Looking over to Angel's son, He sighed sharply as if to say _'that's different'_. "All it is, is proper manipulation of dimensions."

"Come, sit, explain." He said.

"Ooo Yes Sir." She grinned. "I like you all scruffy and bad."

The slayer gave a Swiss cheesed account of how she came to be in this time. That a mystical map was written and put into a wooden amulet (which M was keeping securely around her neck under her top) In each dimension, when the "hot spot", "leyline", "portal" "worm hole", whatever it was called in that particular place, was correctly aligned the amulet would glow. Then it needed to be activated to open into the next dimension.

"I hate this part." M explained. "I have to stick my finger and drip blood on the wood. I'd rather cut my hand than stick my finger."

"How was this method developed?"

"Can't tell you."

"So what other kind of planes have you been on?" Fred asked.

"Oh several." She began, but the look in Fred eyes made her hesitate. "I uh, I know that if I had been trapped in any of the worse ones I couldn't have survived." M looked around for an alternate topic. "So Gunn can I see the ax made of a hubcap."

"I kind of wanna hear about other dimensions." Gunn prompted.

"Come on you know what they say." She pulled her bag up. "You show me yours..."

"I'm more interested in your mission." Wesley said.

"HEY!" M yelled "Where are you going?"

Connor was on his way up the stairs.

"I'm going to check on Cordy." The boy huffed.

"Cordy is-" Fred began but M cut her off."

"Oh yes Cordelia Chase." She turned back to Connor. "You going to ask _Mommy_ for permission to play?"

Connor's sneer was firmly in place. Did this girl know? The way she drew out the word Mommy and the look on her face now.

"Oh sorry." M looked to the other A.I. members. "We're not supposed to talk about Connor's Oedipus problems."

Cordy was safe up stairs he should keep an eye on this girl.

"So ever been to a hell dimension?" He came back down the stairs.

"You mean like Quortoth? You still whining about that? Jeez get the hell over it. Fred spent time in hell so did Angel, you're not special."

"You were saying were you've been." Fred tried to avoid a confrontation.

"Yes. This is actually my second journey." She continued. "I got to see my future, well a possible future. So when you go time traveling you have to spend so much time in certain dimensions, like I spent two weeks in this one realm, I stayed with this witch, Rachel, she's the one who showed me how to put the map into a wood amulet rather than having to conjure it."

M was animated in her story telling and couldn't believe her attentive audience.

"Give me a sec." She made her way to office of the Hyperion. There Lorne sat, sea breeze still in hand. She shut the door. "Lorne?"

"Eleanore?" He looked up.

"Please keep that to yourself."

"M, for Myers?"

She nodded.

"I don't understand. You're all choppy. I can see slaying, pain, happiness, but only in your past and I keep seeing a blurred face, it's the same person always but I can't tell who it is." He set his drink down. "And I can't see a future, nothing not even the next ten minutes."

"I think it's cause here I have no future cause it's my past."

"Nice theory." He said. "Could be over taken by an ugly fact."

"You know you can trust me. I'm here for a good reason I just need you to promise me-"

"I won't tell them anything."

"Thank you."

"The witch who made the amulet?" Gunn asked when she came out of the office..

"Oh yea well in this world witches and warlocks, that learning levels, pixies leprechauns-"

"Leprechauns aren't real." Came a chorus of voices.

"They were in this place. Oh and get this there were living AND dead vampires, the witch I stayed with lived with one. And there was this really hot living vamp I swear he could have been Spike's twin." Stopping her rambling M continued. "I haven't been to the one with only shrimp but I did run into another time traveler. We bumped in an in-between and got flung some place weird but his aunts got us out. He went to his past to save his brother."

"Wish we could go to the past and not remove Angel's soul." Fred said.

"Let's get to it then." M insisted.

"We can't." Wes said. "His soul is missing."

"Wasn't this much trouble when _Willow_ restored his soul." M said.

"Hmm Willow." Fred mumbles to herself. And went to the office.

"So let's go get some slaying in before bed?" She turned to Faith who had been resting and remained quiet for some time now.

"So you're what happens when I die?" Faith quipped.

"OH NO!" M popped out of her seat in indignation. "Listen up all of you. I may be from the future, but I am not a fortune cookie to be cracked. I need to change a mishap-major but I can not risk messing with destiny, or paradoxes or other time trivally stuff. So Faith don't assume something cause anything could have happened. You could have drowned then been brought back. You could have spent too much time in the astral plane and Willow had to go out and drag you back into your body. The rules could be totally different by then. Buffy could have died AGAIN!"

There was an awkward moment between laughter and sadness.

"Look," M said. "You want to know your future? You eventually die feel better?"

"Well I'm up for some dusting." Gunn said and went to the weapons cabinet.

"How but you Irish?" M said to Connor. "Go say _Mummy dear can I go out with the big kids?"_

Connor held in the rage wanting to bubble over the surface. He went and pulled out Angel's broad sword.

"I'm kinda torn to pieces." Faith said. "Give me a few hours."

M shed her jacket. There, was a holster hold a pistol at her left ribs and one at her back. She removed the one that held the tranquilizer and replace it with a... Paint ball pistol?

"What's with that thing?" Gunn asked.

"Another thing I picked up from the dimension where humans hate tomatoes, but that's another story." She pulled out one of the round paint beads. "Take an injection needle; fill the ball with holy water."

"Good thinking." Gunn said.

"I don't suppose you learned some kind of location spell to help us find a lost soul?" Wes called from behind his book.

"Yea but you won't need it." She took the pistol from her back. "And this, my family works at a prison, is a wood block gun. Won't pierce human skin but soak the block in holy water, tssss." She made the sound of a dusted vampire. "I had to figure something out my breasts are too big to properly use a crossbow."

Gunn and Connor flanked the slayer down the darkened street. Connor still felt threatened by her; he didn't want her out of his sight. Whatever purpose she came back in time for he was positive could not be good for his child.

"Can't wait to see you in action." Gunn said.

"Yea I'm good at what I do." M said.

There was movement behind them. A large group of seven or eight vampires, all in game face, stood.

"Here's your chance to-" Connor turned to find M gone. "What Kind of a slayer runs off?"

The two men jump into the fight killing three of the gang. The rest of the vampires had stayed back but now began toward them.

"Ah ah ah." M called from the opposite end of the alley. "Ladies first."

The demons now, all headed in her direction. M smirked and kicked her heal. The concrete sparked and a line of flame shot from her to the vampires.

"I'm good at what I do." She said.

When the flames and smoke died down Gunn and Connor could find no sign of M.

Cordelia paced around the room trying to calm her stomach. Where was Connor he hadn't been there for hours? She heard the door. She turned expecting Connor. Instead it was an unfamiliar girl dressed in back.

"The Mother." M said. She kneeled and kissed Cordelia's hand.


	3. Just what all is in the history books?

"Connor doesn't trust me." M said. "But if he suddenly starts trusting me the others will be suspicious."

Cordelia sat back against the bed's head board listening to this strange woman from the future.

"You have to convince him that I'm nothing to worry about or give any thought to."

"He can help you." Cordelia said.

"Mother I need them to think I'm on there side." M reached out to touch the swelling stomach. "You have to release Angel's soul. Angelus doesn't accept the wonder that grows with in you. Angel must be restored."

Cordelia looked away, contemplating everything she heard. It did go against the plan.

"Mother, if you only knew, life is so wonderful. No pain, no war amazing love."

"How can it be?"

"Through your child."

Wesley's head popped up as Connor and Gunn entered. He placed a mark in his book and waited for the explanation for the disgruntled looks on their faces.

"She's not here?" Connor asked.

"Who, M?" Wesley said. "Sod it I will never get used referring to someone as a letter. It's like James Bond or Star Trek."

"She took off." Gunn affirmed.

"Well I'm sure she can take care of herself." Wes opened his book. "The priority for the moment is Angel's soul."

"But what if she's off somewhere doing something stupid."

"Mourning sunshine."

"Just who the hell are you?" Angelus groaned.

M was setting cross-legged just an inch or two away from the red line.

"A friend." She smiled.

"I don't need friends."

"I didn't say I was yours."

He chuckled and sat up to match her position.

"I have some ideas but none of the seem to come to the right conclusion." With a sigh he slammed the book shut. "What we need-"

"I think you need a witch."

"Little girl you have no idea," The soulless fiend leaned forward in his cell. "Who you're dealing with."

With a smirk to rival his, M pulled a folded sheet of paper from her pocket. Nimble fingers pulled the folds open and she looked over it as if she was reading a newspaper.

"Oh I don't know I think I have a pretty good idea."

"Willow!" Wes exclaimed.

"She's a witch?" Connor asked.

"Yes and you must be Angel's handsome, yet androgynous son. So?" Willow asked. "Where is our victim in question?"

"He's in a cage." Connor said, "Where he belongs."

"Unconscious." Wesley flipped on the monitor. "We built it-"

__

"-girls like you." Angelus' voice came over the speaker.

"I suppose that's meant to scare me?" The slayer countered.

"I'm legendary."

"I'm not Lilah." She snorted. "I'm not impressed by evil. Ooo you're mean. So what? So are allot of people, you're not special. Sure you're bad but that's it."

"You won't be saying that when..."

"Oh give me a break. You have two emotions: glee and anger. You are a flat panel cartoon. At least Angel has you to make him interesting. You, I look at you and see the two dimensional cell. And the kicker, when I put on my monster vision red-and-blue glasses, Nothing changes. You bore me."

"Who is that?" Willow asked.

"Slayer from the future." Connor said

"How did-" Willow began but was cut off by Wesley.

"We're not allowed to ask."

Not one of them looked away from the monitor. That was the moment Faith returned to the lobby.

"What's she doing?" She asked.

__

Lying back, Angelus crossed his arms behind his head. M stayed silent, waiting.

"Well." She finally spoke. "Don't want to have a conversation? Don't you want to hear yourself talk?"

"Like I said." He supported his head on one hand. "Clean innocent little girls like you, just a snack. I could drive you to the point of suicide before I have you screaming for hours."

"Does that turn you on?" She leaned down to his eye level. "Do you want to do to me what you did to Dru?"

Slowly she sat back up, and as if looking in a mirror he sat up with her following her movement.

"Convince me I'm evil." She continued. "Drive me insane; kill off my family one by one. Rape me in a convent then turn me into a demon."

"For starters."

"I'm naming the stars." M said mimicking the middle class British dialect that Drusilla spouted. The slayer stood up and fluidly moved swinging her hips. "I'm a princess. Miss Edith tattles on you Daddy, she knows you've been naughty and UGH!" M flumped back down in front of the bars. "I know you're an artist of head games, but was it worth listening to THAT, for eternity? There's no excuse for being all crazy anymore. Oh daddy drove me insane. You think she would have eaten one person on prosac."

"Who's Dru?" Connor asked.

"I suppose she means Drusilla." Willow commented. "She sure sounds like her."

"Angel's childe." Wesley added.

__

"Don't you think it's funny?" M paced back and forth in front of the cage. "That Dru is the only one left, in the Order of Aurilius, that is still evil? The only one who made a decent human."

Angelus sat on the floor; a funny little smile played at his lips. He had no idea who this girl was, she knew or seemed to know everything about him. Oh well she'd be dead soon as he could get out of this place.

"First there's you. You don't exist. And of course dear William. Evil for the fun of it, but not any more. And why is he fighting the good fight with the Scoobies? Beep beep beep BUZZZZZ TIMES UP." She slapped the bars of the cage and backed away just as quickly. "BUFFY! Ooo he fell in love."

Angelus scow deepened.

"She does that to people, even Angel. He may not have been evil for eighty plus years, but he made no real attempted to be good. That is until a lollipop licking, short skirted cheerleader walked down the steps of Hemery High." She couldn't help but smile at the angry lines in his head. She leaned in close and spoke quietly. "If it makes you feel better he tried to rape her." She then stood, resumed walking and spoke in her normal voice. "I mean she's the only one he lost his soul for. Every other time need a Shaman or, hee hee drugs. Even Darla, Speaking of-"

"You think all that's in the history books?" Willow asked.

"Do you keep diaries?"

Several sets of eyebrows lifted at the thought.

__

"How did that all go? She didn't want to have her baby..."

Connor was now listen closely to M's voice.

"Because she KNEW that she wouldn't love him with out a soul. That makes my heart ache how about your's?"

"I'm tearing up as you speak." The vampire sneered.

"Well then I'll continue." M said. "Her baby was dying. What's a mother to do? Our baby is going to die in an alley. You died in a alley remember? This baby was the one good thing we did together, the only good thing. You be sure and tell him that. OUCH! And the dust flew and the rain fell and all that was left was a crying naked little mogley of a boy."

Her back was to the cage at this time, and she spun around a banged her arms against the bars.

"BUT HE NEVER GOT THE CHANCE TO TELL HIM!" She took a moment to calm down. "Did he?"

Connor visibly startled when she hit the cage, drew the eyes of those around him.

"I should check on Cordy." And he was up the stairs in seconds.

They all turned back to the screen but now the conversation was to quiet for them to understand.

__

"Bet you're hungry." M said from across the room. "I've been told I have sweet blood, I think it's cause I have this blood abnormality with to many red cells." She pulled a pin out of her color and pricked her finger. "Here taste."

Angelus came close to the bars as M crossed the red line.

"Stick out your tongue." She said smoothly. The pick muscle emerged from his slightly open mouth. "You want to know a secret?" She placed the wounded digit on his tongue, and dropped her voice even lower. "That's not Cordelia and I'm going to have to kill her."

What happened next went rather quickly for the on-lookers upstairs to keep up.

Angelus' arms shot through the bars and around M. She made a bite motion and spit in his face. He pulled back clutching his face screaming.

"You BITCH!"

"If I had a nickel for every time a vampire in a cage called me a bitch." She made her way up the basement stairs. "I'd have a nickel. Who would be so stupid as to get themselves locked in the same cage the had JUST escaped."

"I think I'm starting to like her." Faith said.


	4. This is Why

"OH!" M squeaked as she flew from the basement. "That was so much fun, little anxiety enhancing, but the adrenaline makes me tingly."

"Yes," Wesley groaned. "let's make the evil vampire more angry by spitting holy water in his face."

"How did you get it so fast?" Willow asked.

"Willow Rosenburg." The slayer smiled broadly and made her way to the witch with an out stretched hand. "M the vampire slayer."

"Pleased to meet you. Unless you're evil."

"Not right now."

Willow scrunched her nose and the others turned a questioning glance her way.

"Oh come on." M huffed. "We all go evil once in a while, and try to kill our friends." She turned back to Willow. "Except Dawn right? But she has done enough stupid stuff to make up for it. Anyone hungry?"

...:...

Willow stood chanting over a marble in the palm of her hand. Glowing, the marble flew from her hand.

Cordelia watched patiently as the round jar shattered. With a sigh she picked up the pieces.

In the basement Connor stood, cross bow at the ready, near the bars. White light floated from the ceiling and struck Angel. His eyes held regret and sorrow, but mostly relief.

"It's all right Connor." He said. "It's me."

...:...

"What about Marty Mc-Slayer?" Faith asked Willow on their way out.

"She says her place is here." the witch said. "That our battle is our own and she cannot be there."

"Cryptic."

"Yes much, I think she's taking this _'I'm from the future'_ thing way to serious."

"Good luck to her."

The two Sunnydale bound women made there way into the night.

...:...

Angel watched them retreating. He turned to address each of his friends with hugs and apologies all round.

M sat on the banister filing her nails as she watched the intimate exchange. Angel's smile vanished when he locked his gaze with hers. Never breaking eye contact she watched him make his way to the stairs, on his way to her.

The others look on in confusion. Angel made his silent decent. He stepped onto the landing, but as he turned toward her M bolted off the banister landing on the floor below. Wes felt the swish of the slayer by him, Gunn unfortunately must have been in the way, in the next second he was on the floor.

M came close to escaping, the front doors to the Hyperion in her reach. But, the vampire had speed to match. Angel was over the banister hit the floor running and at the entrance steps had M by the color, slinging her back into the lobby.

"Ooff!" she huffed from the floor. "You know everybody else trusts me." She staggered to her feet.

"They were stupid." Angel commented stalking toward the slayer. "No offense."

"None taken." Wes began, "But Angel she did help save your soul not to mention your life."

"Hey Don't!" Fred cried.

The vampire slammed the girl in question against a support column. He effectively held the back of her head, pressing her face against the hard surface with her right arm twisted behind her back.

"Your not a very good slayer." He taunted. "I took you down pretty quick. STAY BACK!"

The last directed to Gunn as he was about to intervene.

"On no." M groaned. "I'm very good at what I do I just don't want to harm you. Not that I could..." She managed slyly. "There's only one slayer who could kick your ass. Even Faith had to drug her blood to bring you down. Well would have done so."

The lobby was silent for a moment. An unneeded breath tickled M's ear in a whispered voice.

"You spit holy water in my face." He said.

"Do you want me to apologize?" This said with true puzzlement.

"You said something right before you did." He tightened his grip. "A secret?"

"Oh yea, that one. Shall we step into the office?" The side of her face was being rubbed raw, but what could she say? She was warned this is the way he would take it. "You know that bad things could happen. Depending on who hears my little secret."

"No one will know If I kill you now."

He released her and backed away. Turning to face him, the slayer touched her cheek as if she had been slapped.

"It didn't end with the Beast Angel." She said. "The world depends on this."

"I don't believe you." The others were beginning to doubt whether his soul had been returned. One thing was for sure, he hated this slayer from the future. "There's another way. There has to be."

"Do you if there was one you wouldn't have found it?" M pleaded. "Why would I have come back, if this were not necessary?"

There had been several instances during the exchange that Wesley had wanted to comment or interject but the passion in each of their voices grew in desperation. She had a goal. Something that Angel clearly did not want to be fulfilled.

"How do we know?" His growl had lessened. "You could be lying, you could be here to stop us. Did we kill your demon boyfriend in the future?"

With a visible swallow the vampire slayer looked down. An emotional conflict with in her bubbled over.

"Is that it?" Wes asked gently. "Are you heart broken, trying reset an even-"

"I can make you believe me." She look up right into Angel's eyes. "But you're not going to like it."

"You better make me believe." Angel said. "Cause there is no way what you want will happen."

"Something no other living person knows."

"Just spill it!"

"One minute."

"Oh what are you waiting on-"

"No." She whispered "No It's not enough time."

Angel was silent.

"How Am I suppose to go on? Knowing what we had? What we could have had."

She walked slowly to Angel and laid her hand on his chest.

"I felt your heart beat." When she looked in his eyes, tear shone. From hers as well. "I'll never forget."

The moisture broke free from his eye and trickled down one side of his face.. In a movement almost a blur, he snatched her wrist away from him. He turned keeping the grip on her arm pulling them into his office and shutting the door.

"You of all people should know." She began. "About having to sacrifice someone you love."

"Yes," He said. He was facing the desk, she figured her couldn't look at her. "but hasn't that happened enough? Can't I save her?"

"She's not there. It's not her."

"I understand." He turned back to her, tranquilizer gun in hand. "But I just don't accept it."

The dart hit her shoulder in her attempt to run. She ripped the office door open, already feeling the numbness spreading.

"DAMN IT!" She yelled, pulling the dart out and throwing it. "I hate those things."

"What's wrong?" Fred ran to M's aid, only to be shoved out of the way.

The slayer desperately looked around before spotting her bag. As she staggered toward it the drug coursed. M fell to her knees, her hand on the strap of her bag, the world grew dark.

"You don't understand." But that was all she could get out before the nothingness took over.


End file.
